The Hague-Visby Rules are a set of international rules for the international carriage of goods by sea

Ship transport

Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...

. The official title is "International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law relating to Bills of Lading" and was drafted in Brussels in 1924. After being amended by the Brussels Amendments (officially the "Protocol to Amend the International Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules of Law Relating to Bills of Lading") in 1968, the Rules became known as the Hague-Visby Rules. A final amendment was made in the SDR Protocol in 1979.

The premise of the Hague-Visby Rules (and of the earlier English Common Law) is that a carrier has far greater bargaining power than the shipper; and that to protect the interests of the shipper/cargo-owner, the law should impose minimum obligations upon the carrier.

Implementing legislation

The Hague-Visby Rules were incorporated into English law by the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971; and English lawyers should note the provisions of the statute as well as the text of the rules. For instance, although Article I(c) of the Rules exempts live animals and deck cargo, section 1(7) restores those items into the category of "goods". Also, although Article III(4) declares a bill of lading to be a mere "prima facie evidence of the receipt by the carrier of the goods", the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 section 4 upgrades a bill of lading to be "conclusive evidence of receipt".

Under Article X, the Rules apply if ("a) the bill of lading is issued in a contracting State, or (b) the carriage is from a port in a contracting State, or (c) the contract (of carriage) provides that(the) Rules ... are to govern the contract". If the Rules apply, the entire text of Rules is incorporated into the contract of carriage, and any attempt to exclude the Rules is void under Article III (8).

The Carrier's Duties

Under the Rules, the carrier's main duties are to "properly and carefully load, handle, stow, carry, keep, care for, and discharge the goods carried" and to "exercise due diligence to ... make the ship seaworthy" and to "... properly man, equip and supply the ship". It is implicit (from the common law) that the carrier must not deviate from the agreed route nor from the usual route; but Article IV(4) provides that "any deviation in saving or attempting to save life or property at sea or any reasonable deviation shall not be deemed to be an infringement or breach of these Rules".

The carrier's duties are not "strict", but require only a reasonable standard of professionalism and care; and Article IV allows the carrier a wide range of situations exempting them from liability on a cargo claim. These exemptions include destruction or damage to the cargo caused by: fire, perils of the sea, Act of God, & Act of war. A controversial provision exempts the carrier from liability for "neglect or default of the master ... in the navigation or in the management of the ship". This provision is considered unfair to the shipper; and both the later Hamburg Rules

Hamburg Rules

The Hamburg Rules are a set of rules governing the international shipment of goods, resulting from the United Nations International Convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea adopted in Hamburg on 31 March 1978. The Convention was an attempt to form a uniform legal base for the transportation of...

 and Rotterdam Rules

Rotterdam Rules

The "Rotterdam Rules", formally the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea is a treaty comprising international rules that revises the legal and political framework for maritime carriage of goods...

 refuse exemption for negligent navigation and management.

Also, whereas the Hague-Visby Rules require a ship to be seaworthy only "before and at the beginning" of the voyage, under the Rotterdam Rules the carrier will have to keep the ship seaworthy throughout the voyage (although this new duty will be to a reasonable standard that is subject the circumstances of being at sea).

The Shipper's Duties

By contrast, the shipper has fewer obligations (mostly implicit), namely: (i) to pay freight; (ii) to pack the goods sufficiently for the journey; (iii) to describe the goods honestly and accurately; (iv) not to ship dangerous cargoes (unless agreed by both parties); and (v) to have the goods ready for shipment as agreed; (q.v."notice of readiness to load").

Ratifications

A list of ratifications and denouncements of the 3 conventions is shown below:

Country	1924	1968	1979	Comments
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Australia
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Mainland China				Hong Kong and Macao (1924) only
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Independent State of Croatia
Côte d'Ivoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Denmark
Dominica
Egypt
Ecuador
Fiji
Finland
Early Modern France
The Gambia
Georgia (country)
Germany
German Democratic Republic
Goa Goa Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
Greece
Grenada
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Hungary
Iran
Republic of Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mexico
Monaco
Mozambique
Nauru
Netherlands				European Territory and Aruba Aruba Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...  (1968)
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Palestinian territories
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Poland
Portugal
Kingdom of Romania
Russia
Sarawak (North Borneo North Borneo North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is... )
Saint Christopher and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
São Tomé and Príncipe
Kingdom of Sarawak
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Somalia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tanganyika
Timor Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Turkey
Tuvalu
United Kingdom
United States
Kingdom of Yugoslavia